Kraft did the only thing he could do after the Jerod Mayo firing. He took blame for the "situation" and set out to fix his fallen franchise.
Watch Patriots CEO and chairman Robert Kraft's press conference after decision to fire New England head coach Jerod Mayo.
Bill Simmons sounded off on Patriots owner Robert Kraft for his decisions that led to the team blowing the No. 1 overall pick.
The Patriots turned to Vrabel after their quick coaching search wrapped up just seven days after the team fired Jerod Mayo.
When Robert Kraft hired Jerod Mayo a year ago, he felt he’d identified the right person to follow Bill Belichick.
After the stunning firing of Jerod Mayo, Patriots owner Robert Kraft took the blame for a mess of a season in New England.
New England Patriots' longtime owner Robert Kraft was pointing the finger at himself after another 4-13 season, while explaining his firing of Jerod Mayo.
The fact that Vrabel was available made the best choice an easy one. Kraft hasn’t run an actual coaching search since 1997 when he hired Pete Carroll. The two hires that followed — Bill Belichick in 2000 and Jerod Mayo last year — were both examples of Kraft selecting people who he already knew, liked and trusted.
Robert Kraft showed no shame in taking full ownership of how New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo's first and only season at the helm shook out. Kraft, the New England Patriots CEO and Chairman, addressed the press on Monday to discuss the firing of Mayo along with fielding questions on other topics within the organization.
The Patriots now enter the offseason with plenty of resources in their war chest. New England is projected to lead the NFL in cap space in 2025, giving the team an opportunity to acquire much-needed talent to improve the roster. Based on what Kraft said Monday, the team is giving the OK to spend big this offseason.
During a midday press conference Monday, the Patriots’ owner said the team has already extended multiple interview requests to head-coaching candidates. Kraft, team president Jonathan Kraft, executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith will conduct the interviews.
After trying to move on from the Bill Belichick era, the Patriots are now going right back to a successor much more like him.